The Physical Environment

                                                       
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Energy and Radiation 

Earth

India and Saudi Arabia
Courtesy NASA

Solar radiation is the source of energy that drives most environmental processes acting at the surface of the Earth. The  spatial variation of energy affects the spatial variation of temperature, wind, and moisture which determine the geography of soils, vegetation, climate and landforms. The awesome power of hurricanes is driven by the heating of water and subsequent heat release during condensation. Unequal heating of the Earth's surface creates wind that heaps sand into great dunes.

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For Citation: Ritter, Michael E. The Physical Environment: an Introduction to Physical Geography.
2006. Date visited.  http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/title_page.html

© 2003-2008
Michael Ritter (tpeauthor@mac.com)
Last revised 06/21/07